Pierre Sage has now confirmed the arrivals of Jamal Alioui, Damien Della Santa and Sandy Guichard as part of his coaching staff at Crystal Palace.
Paddy McCarthy and Andy Quy are remaining at Selhurst Park in their respective roles of Assistant Coach and Goalkeeping Coach – where they will help the Frenchman with his transition from RC Lens to Crystal Palace.
So, what roles will Alioui, Della Santa and Guichard fulfil under Sage? Let’s take a look…
🚨 NEW SIGNING ALERT 🚨
What do Palace need to do next after landing a new defender in Mingueza? 🇪🇸
Jamal Alioui – Assistant Manager
The 44-year-old Alioui will continue his role as Sage’s right hand man in SE25, having also been instilled in that post at Lyon and RC Lens.
The former Morocco international helped Sage guide Lyon to sixth place in the 2024/25 campaign – a fine achievement considering the French giants were bottom of Ligue 1 when Sage initially took over on an interim basis in November 2023.
Alioui – who We Are Palace have been informed is quite vocal on the sidelines – then followed Sage to RC Lens, where the duo worked well together and finished second behind PSG, also winning the Coupe de France.
The man born in Saint-Etienne has previously been a manager himself, taking charge of Championnat National 2 side GOAL FC in June 2021 before later opting to assist Sage.
Damien Della Santa – Player Development and Set Piece Coach
Della Santa also worked under Sage at Lyon alongside Alioui. Remarkably, the Frenchman first became a coach at the age of just 14, specialising in individual player development and set-pieces.
The 36-year-old worked for OGC Nice before moving to Lyon, and held an interesting interview on the official OGC Nice website after being appointed in January 2022, in which he claimed to have helped the side go from conceding a goal every 11 corners to conceding a goal every 59 corners while in an interim role initially.
As Crystal Palace revealed in their official announcement of the coaching staff, Della Santa also has a job within the French Football Federation (FFF) as a coach educator and researcher.
Sandy Guichard – Fitness Coach
Last but by no means least, Guichard has arrived in SE25 as the new Fitness Coach.
The 44-year-old has worked in the same role as Monaco for the last seven years, and was also a Conditioning Coach for Algeria from March 2013 to July 2014.
Guichard oversaw fitness at Trabzonspor, Sochaux, Bordeaux, Dijon, Besanconand and Sion in the years between his roles with Algeria and Monaco.
It is the first time the Frenchman will work under Sage – who still has weeks to go until he gets to meet Crystal Palace’s World Cup stars.
Initial thoughts on Pierre Sage? 🤔
He can boast a 67.5% win ratio from 40 games at RC Lens 😍
